First identification of the SARS-COV-2/XBB.1.5 sublineage among indigenous COVID-19 cases through the influenza sentinel surveillance system in Niger.

The emergence of the Omicron variant in November 2021, has caused panic worldwide due to the rapid evolution and the ability of the virus to escape the immune system. Since, several Omicron sublineages (BA.1 to BA.

Implementation and contribution of temperature screening and handwashing practice at points of entry for COVID-19 pandemic response in a humanitarian crisis setting.

Introduction: over the last decade, insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Niger´s Diffa Region with a significant population movement. In this humanitarian setting, we reviewed the implementation process and the contribution of temperature screening and handwashing practice at points of entry as part of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19.

Methods: in Diffa, border officers were trained on the fundamentals of infection prevention and control in relation to COVID-19 readiness and response and a 14-day district response team was constituted.

Community-based surveillance contribution to the response of COVID-19 in Niger.

Introduction: the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across all countries in Africa, with much of the model forecasting disastrous results owing to weak health services and political uncertainty. In Niger, an adaptive solution to the COVID-19 pandemic has been implemented by community-based surveillance system (CBS) to complement passive case-finding in health systems.

Methods: the CBS program was designed to use the current CBS polio network spanning 37 health districts in six regions.

Clinical features and predictors of mortality among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Niger.

Introduction: COVID-19 has spread across the African continent, including Niger. Yet very little is known about the phenotype of people who tested positive for COVID-19. In this humanitarian crises region, we aimed at characterizing variation in clinical features among hospitalized patients with COVID-19-like syndrome and to determine predictors associated with COVID-19 mortality among those with confirmed COVID-19.

[The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health service utilisation in the City of Niamey: a study conducted in 17 health care facilities from January to June 2020].

COVID-19 pandemic has posed huge challenges for the health system in Africa; however they haven´t been well quantified. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on curative and preventive activities in health care facilities at 17 integrated health centers in Niamey by comparing the first half of 2020 and the first half of 2019. The differences were more pronounced in the second quarter of 2020, with a 34% reduction (95% CI: -47% to -21%) for curative care, 61% (95% CI: -74% to -48%) for pentavalent vaccines 1 and 3 and 36% (95% CI: -49% to -23%) for VAR 1.